As you might expect, there is a little bit of “he said, she said” going on in this story, although reports do vary. Danielle Wolf says she didn’t swear at her kids, but an onlooker claims that she not only swore at her kids, but also f-bombed her when she approached the mother of two.

All that aside, no, I don’t think moms should use profanity when addressing their children. But do I think a mom should be thrown in the clinker for f-bombing her kids? Nope. I understand that it can be upsetting to witness, and the lady who initiated the complaint admitted that it reminded her of her own abusive childhood. But as Wolf told WSPA.com, “I didn’t harm nobody. I didn’t hurt nobody. The lady said she was having a bad day. So, because you’re having a bad day you’re going to ruin somebody’s life.”

Intervening when a parent leaves a baby strapped into a car seat in their car is essential. If you witness an adult severely beating a child, by all means, call the police. A child being kidnapped? You’d better act. But to call the cops on a mom who is obviously at her wit’s end because her family is putting pizzas on their bread and squishing it? Hell no.

We’re not perfect parents. Nobody is. And while we should be good role models and teach our children to deal with frustration and anger constructively, a curse word is still just a word. We’ve given these particular words so much weight that they are forbidden to utter in public, and to think that simply saying one in front of our kids can land us in jail is pretty frightening.

I hesitate to use the term “nanny state” because I do feel that we as a society have a responsibility to keep every child safe from harm. But when that responsibility impinges on a mother speaking with her own family, then the lines between your family and society as a whole begin to blur. That can lead to a loss of rights. Yes, you should have the option to curse in front of your kids. To say you don’t is downright scary.